Boys Town marks 92 years

The Rev. Edward Flanagan envisioned a home where troubled boys could turn their lives around.

A home where all races and religions could live and thrive together.

A home where troubled boys could discover guidance, receive discipline and learn to change their behavior.

“There are no bad boys,” Flanagan is famous for saying. “There is only bad environment, bad training, bad example, bad thinking.”

It was on this date 92 years ago that Flanagan founded the now influential and historic Boys Town.

Flanagan borrowed $90 to rent a Victorian mansion near 25th and Dodge Streets. That was the first step of what would become a renowned treatment facility for children, said Tom Lynch, director of the Hall of History at Boys Town.

Flanagan's vision was so radical at that time in America that many said it would never succeed. Through difficult times, Flanagan persevered and proved what was possible.

“When word got out,” Lynch said, “many boys started to come to that home. And it was so overwhelming that he needed to find a bigger home.”

Flanagan found that home about six months later, in June 1918, and relocated to the abandoned German-American Home on South 13th Street, a short distance south of where Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium now sits.

Flanagan and around 200 boys, many of whom were orphans or otherwise left alone, lived at that 13th Street house for nearly three years. But, once again, space became an issue.

“He started looking around the city to buy land,” Lynch said. “But he ran into opposition because people didn't like the fact that he had children living together of all different races and religions.”

In May 1921, Flanagan purchased the Overlook Farm, about 160 acres of land that was then 10 miles west of Omaha, near what's now 144th Street and West Dodge Road.

Over the years that farm grew into the sprawling Boys Town headquarters.

In October 1921, the move to the farm was completed. There were no fences. No gates. No one to interfere with Flanagan's vision of a community meant to serve the needs of troubled young boys.

“I do not believe that a child can be reformed by lock and key and bars, or that fear can ever develop a child's character,” Flanagan said long ago.

Boys Town was then and remains now exactly what Flanagan envisioned for children, Lynch said. He wanted a clean, beautiful environment to foster learning and encourage proper behavior.

But there were struggles. During the Great Depression, Boys Town was nearly lost to foreclosure. Drought in the 1930s ruined the gardens and crops that fed the boys. When Flanagan didn't have money, he sometimes sent boys back to their families, if they had families.

But generous donors, a dedicated staff and a driven Flanagan kept Boys Town open and set the foundation for what the village would one day become.

Boys Town today helps thousands of children at locations in more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia. And through its various programs, including its National Hotline, Boys Town assists children and families across the United States, Canada and many foreign countries.

“That was his vision,” Lynch said. “To impact the lives of kids, not just here, but all around the world.”

Contact the writer:

444-3198, chip.olsen@owh.com

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